Regardless of whether a car, truck or motorcycle wreck occurs here in the Greater Baltimore area, over in Gaithersburg, or out in the Washington, D.C., area, victims are likely to be injured and in need of medical care. Some serious injuries can present life-threatening complications, while other less fortunate individuals may die at the scene. One common thread is usually present: Many car and commercial trucking crashes could have been avoided if not for the negligent actions of another driver.
Aside from the inevitable hospital bills and costs of medical treatment, not to mention weeks or months of rehab for those seriously injured, the families of deceased victims have little to no consolation for their loss. Besides the obvious financial impact of losing a primary breadwinner to a senseless traffic wreck, widowed spouses their children suffer the emotional vacuum in the wake of a fatal car crash.
As Maryland personal injury attorneys, I and my colleagues understand all facets of loss regarding a fatal traffic accident. Wrongful death suits not only take into account the loss of income due to the death of a working mother or father, but also the loss of non-tangible “assets,” such as love and affection, as well as the nurturing presence of a parent no longer alive to care for and guide the growth of his or her children.
Not too long, we ran into a news article reminding us that traffic accidents can come in pairs and sometimes strike in the same place over and over again. It is not a stretch to suggest that some roadways, intersections and other trafficked areas can be more prone to motor vehicle accidents than others. At that point, one may have to ask the question: Are multiple accidents in one area just a coincidence, or are there larger structural issues at play.
The article in question describes the second of two fatal accidents that occurred on a stretch of Jarrettsville Pike in Baltimore County last month. According to police investigators, a 51-year-old woman from Harford Co. was killed as the result of a single-vehicle wreck in Monkton. The accident, which happened on a Sunday evening, was the second fatal car crash in as many days. With that latest victim, the tally for that stretch of road came to four in the same period.
Based on information provided by the Baltimore County Police Department, Sherry Baquol of Fallston, MD, was driving northbound on Jarresttsville Pike when for some reason the vehicle diverted from the roadway and hit a nearby stone wall. The force of the impact reportedly uprooted a number of fenceposts as the car continued until it struck a telephone pole, according to news reports. When emergency responders and patrolmen arrived at the scene of the crash, they found the woman’s vehicle lying on its passenger side.
According to police, the woman was pronounced dead at the scene a few minutes after 8pm. While the accident occurred along what was described a fairly straight section of roadway, there was no mention of possible defective vehicle equipment, such as a faulty steering system or blown tire.
This latest accident, at the time of the news article, took place just two miles north of an earlier Friday morning crash that took the lives of a driver and two passengers. In that incident, police stated that the driver of a Volkswagen sedan lost control of his vehicle, which then crossed the center line of the road and collided head-on with a milk truck near Dulaney Valley Rd. In that particular case, police believed that fog and possibly slippery road conditions could have been contributing factors in the triple fatality wreck.
Second fatal accident in recent days occurs on Jarrettsville Pike, BaltimoreSun.com, May 7, 2012